


Twenty Years Has Gone So Fast

by Kileykao



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-05-17 23:05:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14840916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kileykao/pseuds/Kileykao
Summary: Twenty Years is a long time to wait.But it was somewhere to start.





	Twenty Years Has Gone So Fast

He had waited twenty years to return it. It’s really not like he meant to wait so long to give it back. Mostly, Alex meant to give it back to Nicke the next time he saw him after he had taken it, but that was back when they were both still young, dumb, and still filled to the brim with optimism. Then suddenly, the next time became to the time after that, and then it became next season and well, next season became next time they’re in the same room together for more than ten minutes. 

They were young, dumb and dumb enough to believe that two people was all it took to win the Stanley Cup when Nicke had left his sweatshirt in Alex’s house. It was well worn, and displayed the name of a hockey team that Alex never played for. 

Honestly, he did mean to give it back to Nicke the next time he was over at Alex’s house. 

But it, like most trivial things, got forgotten and pushed on to be dealt with later. The black, yellow, and red sweatshirt made its way into Alex’s random mix of sweatshirts, and then found its way into Alex’s closet. Every now and again Alex would find it mixed with his clothes, and he’d idley think that he should return it to Nicke.   
But he never does. 

Twenty years is a long time for Alex to still be holding on to a piece of clothing that belongs to someone he see for a few hours a year now.   
No one ever claimed that Alex wasn’t a sentimental bastard. He was. He knew he was too. 

Neither of them had houses in Washington anymore. They didn’t need them anymore. They both had their careers, they both had won, and they had both called it quits. They both had sold their houses, and packed up to go back to their respective countries. 

Alex doesn’t know why he got on a plane with nothing more than a carry on, and Nicke’s sweatshirt. But he did. 

Alex still had Nicke’s address. Just like Nicke still had his. Just like the two of them still had each other’s phone numbers. 

(Alex had once overheard Burky and Willy describe to the newest batch of Capital Rookies, who now call Burky and Willy Mom and Dad, just like the two of them had once called Nicke and him, that post hockey Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin as a divorced couple. Who had been together long enough that they don’t know how to function without the other in their life. Who talk only about their kids, and work. And, well, Alex couldn’t deny that, because are still, even after all the time that they’ve not been playing together, all the time that they haven’t lived in the same city, that Alex would turn to show Nicke a video, or to tell him thoughts about any given game that was playing on the TV.)

Getting on plane, and showing up at Nicke’s door was stupid. It was dumb, and reckless, and something that 22 year old Alex would do, not something that 42 year old Alex should be doing. 

And when Nicke opened the door, he’d known he’d made the right choice by getting on the plane. 

Nicke, much like him, had aged. His hair was still as lite as the sun, and his eyes were still as green as emeralds, but he’s face wasn’t as baby faced as it once was. He looked good. He was still Nicke. 

Alex smiled, held up the sweatshirt, worn and old, but still familiar. Nicke had seen Alex were it before. He, when they were still playing hockey together, looked at Alex in a sweatshirt of a team that he had never played for, and had told him that he wanted his sweatshirt back eventually. He never tried to take back, just always complained that Alex had stolen his favorite sweatshirt, and eventually never came. . 

Nicke laughed at Alex, but didn’t reach out to take the sweatshirt. He did however step aside to let Alex into his house and asked if he wanted tea 

They were going to be okay and this was a start.


End file.
